The invention relates to the cleaning of optical fibers and, in particular, to the safe application of solvents for removal of contaminants from the endfaces of optical fibers.
Optical transmission of signals is not new. Mirrors have been used for centuries to reflect light in signaling patterns. Lanterns hung in the bell tower of the Old North Church in Boston""s North End were employed by Paul Revere to indicate the route used by the British in their advance on Concord. Alexander Graham Bell transmitted a telephone signal using sunlight as a carrier more than one hundred years ago. However, using optical signals to transmit high-speed telecommunications has only been practical for the past few decades and one of the innovations that made such transmissions practical is the optical fiber.
Coupled with a xe2x80x9csingle frequencyxe2x80x9d laser a single mode fiber may be capable of reliably supporting data rates in excess of Terabits/sec. Great pains must be taken to insure reliable operation at such high data rates. A great deal of information could be lost in a short period of time at such high transmission rates. Various optical components within a telecommunication system are linked through the use of optical connectors and the interface at each of these connections poses the danger of signal loss. That is, contaminants in the form of organic films or solid contaminants may be inadvertently introduced to the endfaces of optical connectors and these contaminants may reflect or absorb optical signals intended for transmission through the endface. Optical signal levels may be significantly reduced even by contaminants of a microscopic scale and the diminished signals could cause significantly increased bit error rates for optical transmissions that pass through a contaminated connector. Consequently, fiber endfaces are typically cleaned to exacting standards before they are shipped to an installation site. This cleaning process typically requires a technician to apply a solvent to a connector endface, and wipe the endface with a nonabrasive material, such as a soft cloth sometimes referred to as a xe2x80x9cwipexe2x80x9d. Direct contact with the solvent may pose a health hazard; therefore, technicians typically don gloves to avoid direct contact with the solvent materials. Unfortunately, the gloves sometimes prove awkward and reduce the efficiency of technicians engaged in the cleaning process. Additionally, there is some indication that some technicians may develop an allergy to glove materials, such as latex.
It would therefore be highly desirable to provide an apparatus that enables the fast, efficient, and safe cleaning of optical fiber endfaces.
A compact optical fiber cleaning apparatus in accordance with the principles of the present invention includes a base plate and a retainer having a plurality of apertures. The base plate is configured to hold one or more resilient absorbers situated under the retaining plate. In operation, a wiper, such as a piece of lint-free cloth, is placed over the absorber and the retainer is closed. When closed, the plurality of apertures within the retainer allow wiper material to be forced through the apertures by the resilient absorber material. Each section of exposed wiper may be employed for a different cleaning purpose. For example, a solvent may be applied to one exposed section of the wiper, or to the underlying absorber material, with another exposed section of the wiper left dry. A technician may then clean an optical fiber endface, by first wiping the endface on the xe2x80x9cwetxe2x80x9d section of wiper material, then wiping the endface on the xe2x80x9cdryxe2x80x9d section of wiper material. The wiper and absorber materials may be replaced after one or more cleanings.
In an illustrative embodiment, a compact cleaner includes a base plate, a retaining plate, and a protective cover, each of which may be manufactured from an electrostatic dissipated (ESD) type plastic material, such as Pomalux(copyright) SD The base plate retains two rectangular absorbers in recessed cavities that are adjacent to one another. The absorbers may be polyurethane ESD foam pads, for example. A lint-free cleaning fabric, such as Luminex(copyright), is positioned directly over the two absorbers. The retaining plate, which is hinged to the base plate and, in this illustrative embodiment, includes two rectangular openings matched to the absorbers, forces the cleaning fabric into contact with the absorbers. Additionally, the portions of the absorbers that protrude through the openings in the retaining plate stretch the cleaning fabric to expose two taught, resilient, cleaning surfaces. The retaining plate is held in the closed position by a tension clip. The cover plate, which is also hinged to the base plate, may be closed over the retainer/base plate combination in order to protect the exposed xe2x80x9cpillowedxe2x80x9d cleaning fabric from environmental contamination. All components of the compact cleaner in this illustrative embodiment are composed of electrostatic discharge-free (ESD-free) materials.